some vaguely elusive plot-bunnies haunting Mjolnir

[marbleglove]

Let us consider Thor’s Hammer, a mystical-magical weapon named Mjolnir, inscribed with: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”

Wowza.

I’ve read various fics in which other Avengers try to pick up Thor’s Hammer and occasionally they succeed. They have been found worthy! Cool!

But then, I was

Comments

[yllyana]

Regarding Thought 2, I was under the impression that Odin inscribed the worthiness clause when he banished Thor, and so previous use was not being judged to that standard.

[marbleglove]

Oh, huh. I may need to go back and re-watch the movie. That would change a few things. And be even more of a slap down for Thor.

But did the inscription go away again once Thor had reclaimed it?

[yllyana]

No, I'm pretty sure it's still judging him, he just met the standards and continues to do so.

[gestalt1]

if Thought #1 is the case, pretty much the perfect candidate would be Dr. Doom, a monarch himself and a villain with honour.

[marbleglove]

Hee! And wouldn't that be awesome for the Avengers to see?

[loqia]

I always thought Thought #2 was what the movie implies is the criteria for "worthiness", i.e. someone Odin judges as "worthy" to be his heir, by whatever arbitrary standard Odin decides at any one moment in time. Hence thinking it's all a bit bullshit. :P

[marbleglove]

You're very welcome for the rec; thank you for the awesome stories; and it's not creepy at all: welcome to my LJ

[loqia]

Heh. Loki's reputation is what makies it fun, though. ;)

Particularly in the context of ALIMoM, where he rarely outright actually lies. So you get that fun tension where everyone knows he's just trying to stir discontent, and they know they shouldn't listen, except... Except there's always that tiny little voice inside. The one that says, "... but why not me? Why aren't I worthy?"

Particularly with humans. What with our lionisation of equality and general ideological disapproval of concepts like born right to rule and all (in theory, if not always in implementation)... eheheheheheheh.

Ah, Mjolnir. That's the problem with magic weapons. They always seem to cause more issues than they solve...

[marbleglove]

Magical weapons definitely bring their own issues. And it's very important to read the fine print. I imagine gifts from Odin are a bit like faerie gifts, as much curse as blessing.

In the context of ALIMoM, I can imagine Loki ever so casually mentioning the worthiness issue to one of the Avengers and then Fury telling him to be quiet, because Fury already knows or has guessed what the issue is. And the fact that Fury and SHIELD believes Loki is telling the truth just makes that little insidious voice of "why not me?" all the worse.